Javier Díaz Molina, Executive Chairman of Analdex.

On December 1, 2022, it was learned that Colombia had officially requested UNITED STATESthrough Commercial representative officewhich is an organization attached to the White House, the revision of certain points of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries and put on the table a calendar of meetings which is under consideration and would cover 2023.

exports
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And it is that said country is Colombia’s main trading partner and in 2022 the the first ten years of the treaty between the two countries.

After communicating the information about the exam, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Germany’s Umana Mendozaassured that during the year 2023 the administrative commissions of each of the chapters will be constituted where these balances and imbalancesand reaching agreements on how to improve certain conditions.

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Among the chapters on which Colombia wants revisions are the second (market access)bedroom (rules of origin)the tenth (investment) and the sixteenth (intellectual property).

Precisely, regarding the revision of this FTA between Colombia and the United States, three months after the request for review is made, GlobeLiveMedia colombia spoke with the Executive Chairman of the National Association of Exporters (Analdex), Javier Diaz Molinaand gave details on the importance of reviewing it.

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He noted that when the Government of Gustavo Petro Splicing commissions were opened and the possibility of renegotiation was discussed and it was said that this did not seem like an opportunity to renegotiate due to various circumstances.

“The political moment in the United States is not the best for a renegotiation. Let’s look at Mexico’s experience. Mexico did not do well in this renegotiation. He lost things he had. The ministers admitted that it was not possible to speak of renegotiation, but of revision. The review can be done in the terms in which the agreement is provided,” he said.

In turn, he clarified that the revision This is done within the framework of the agreement with the rules provided therein. Instead, a renegotiation it is to open the agreement to change the things that are planned and necessarily modify what comes out of it. There must still be the approval of the Congress of the Republic, both in the United States and in Colombia.

Currently, the United States is the main destination for national exports with a share of 25.8% in 2022, according to data from Dane, an entity that indicated that sales of Colombian products to this country were recorded at 14,757. .5 million in 2022. , a growth of 34.7% compared to the same period of 2021, registering at 10,959.6 million dollars.
Currently, the United States is the main destination for national exports with a share of 25.8% in 2022, according to data from Dane, an entity that indicated that sales of Colombian products to this country were recorded at 14,757. .5 million in 2022. , a growth of 34.7% compared to the same period of 2021, registering at 10,959.6 million dollars.

He noted that there is a agreement management committee that she has not been very active and therefore should have a much more active job in evaluating the agreements, see how it worked, what can be improved.

As to whether Colombia won or lost with the FTA, he argued that it was a instrument to use and makes a comparison.

“It’s like buying the best bike in the world, but if you don’t practice, you can’t compete. There, the problem is not the bike, the problem is yours. So when we look at why Colombia didn’t make the best use of the deal, we say because we didn’t do our homework,” he explained.

He pointed out that the whole subject of internal agenda that was raised for the agreements has not been carried out.

“Some issues were raised, for example, the agricultural issue and this resulted in corruption. The whole question of Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) what he wanted to do was to help the peasants to adapt their production infrastructure to be competitive and that ended in a scandal because the resources went far. What happened to the road infrastructure. It hasn’t been done. So far we are doing the two-way roads. It is not the FTA’s fault, but ours, that we did not do this,” he lamented.

He also recalled that economic activity was centered on oil, coal, ferronickel and gold and he had the dutch disease which punished exporters. Moreover, that the weight increase led to the fact that the profitability of economic activity was not internationally negotiable and therefore it was not profitable to export and that is not the fault of the FTA, but of the currency and exchange deductions which were assumed in Colombia.

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